Quoting: aadoyle
you cant compare a wing to a center. The roles are not the same. If Matthews or Eichel were RW's then yes you could make that comparison but they dont so its invalid.
Eichel and Matthews can be compared but Kane is a RW so the comparison goes no where
The real comparison should be Matthews vs. Eichel
Quoting: Silkysmooth42
Kane obviously had an amazing career but the other two are better now.
As far as them two: Leafs fans will certainly argue Eichel and Sabres fans will kill you if you dont say Matthews,
but from an unbiased and realistic perspective: It is Eichel
Look at the teams they have played on and their stats overall... Stats are very similar overall with very minor differences, but the teams? MY GOD is it clear!!
Lets see how Eichel plays with year with good linemates like Matthews has had.
Eichel for now, but if he still doesnt outshine Matthews this year with a better team than previous years, Matthews may get the edge
Quoting: Skyraider112
As stated, it's really hard to compare players that don't play the same position. Obviously Kane has the best career so far and I'd be dubious to say either Eichel or Matthews will win more Cups than him. If you factor in the kind of talent surrounding Eichel and Matthws then I think you'd have to say Eichel is more talented. He is the only offensive weapon the Sabres have and doesn't have elite supporting cast like Matthews does with Tavares, Nylander, and Marner. Eichel's GAR for the season was 13.6, Matthews was 15.2. While Matthews is higher, is that due to the talent around him or is he really better. I'll say that Eichel is a better skater, has better speed, and is a better passer. Matthews is better at faceoffs, defense, and shooting/scoring. It's honestly a tight race
Quoting: leafs101
Eichel had 40 goal Skinner, Reinhart, Olofsson, Evander Kane, etc. over the years, I hate when people say that he hasn't played with good players. Sure Matthews has a better team around him but keep in mind the guys he has consistently played with are like Hyman, Brown, Johnsson, Kapanen, Nylander, and only a couple months of Marner this year. Sounds to me like Matthews' line mates haven't been a whole heck of a lot better than Eichel's, and he has consistently outproduced (in goals and points) Eichel throughout their entire careers.
Quoting: mapleleafs_queen9434
Quoting: ZiggyPalffy
I wasn't aware that Kane is actually a good player, especially at that time lol. Skinner had 1 good year with Eichel and Reinhart has barely gotten more than 50 points playing with Eichel. Olofsson was good for a rookie, but not great yet.
Matthews has had Nylander and Marner, none of the Buffalo wings are as good as those guys so bad argument.
Give Eichel Marner or Nylander and he's easily a 90-100 point player...
Keep in mind the defense Eichel had to play with, not just the wings.
I think a better comparison would be prime John Tavares vs Jack Eichel cuz they both had to carry their stinking teams. Tavares during his 9 seasons in NYI averaged 35 goals & 77 points per 82 games. His most common linemates were Moulson & Okposo. Eichel so far has averaged 32 goals and 78 points every 82 games in Buffalo. So I would say those 2 are on the same level.
As for Matthews, I think he’s on the same level as MacKinnon. He’s just a generational goal scorer. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone as dominant at even strength since Pavel Datsyuk.